Defecation of saccharine liquids.



F. E. GOOMBS.

DEFEGATION 0F SACGHARINE LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2, 1909..

Patented May 24, 19-10.

3 SHEETS-332? 1.

4 BY W. P cm ae F. E. GOOMBS. I DEFEGATION 0F SACGHAEINE LIQUIDS.

- APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 2 1909. 95 997, Patented 196213124, 1910.

I a sums-sum" 2.

IN VEN TOR. flak/7'45! aamzs WITNESSES.-

ATTORNEY.

' P. B. cooms. DEFEGATION 0F SAUGHABINE'LIQUIDS.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 2, 1909.

Patented May 24, 1910.

3 BEBETQ-BEEET 3.

I WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-i FRANK E. COOMBS. or NATIo'K. MAssAcHusE'r'rs.

DEFECATION 0F SA'CCHARINE LIQUIDS. v I

To ali whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, FRANK E. COQMBS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nat-ick, in the county of iMeiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Defccation of saccharine Liquids, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to defecation of saccharine liquids; and it comprises an organization of apparatus elements adapted to receive a flowing current of sugar uices,"obviate irregularity of flow in the same and maintain an averaged depth of liquid, to supply milk of lime of standard composition to said current ilpamount proportioned to raid averaged depth and to produce other and coiiperating results; all as more fully hereinafter set forth and as claimed.

In 'the art of sugar making, it .is cus tomary to treat raw sugar juices, prior to hcatingor boiling the same, with sufiicient lime to bring the reaction to neutrality or to any desired pointshort of or beyond neutrality, the particular point chosen depending upon the particular juice and the particular method of defecation chosen.

This may be readily done in discontinuous work, as in liming a stationary body of juice 1n a suitable tank, but 1s somewhat dlliicult n1 treatmg a flowing current, as is desirable 1n practice. It is desirable to lime the juice in transit flowing from the mill or diffuser to the defecating apparatus. In practicemilk of lime is usually employed for liming, dry lime being diflicult to handle while lime wa- .ter is too dilute. But as milk. of lime is a mere suspension, it is diflicult to maintain itof standard composition, lime settling out, or

to add lime by its aid inexact amounts. In practice, the milk of lime is sometimes added by allowing itto drip from a hand-regulated valve into a flowing body of sugar juice with,

no regard for theexact amount of juice ha ppemng -to pass in such current at a given moment, the adpxstment of the valve being altered from time to time as the appearance.

of the j nit-c indicates underlimi ng' or overliming. It is however very desirable that the amount of lime added to the juice be regulated with great exactness since this exact, liming is necessary to attain a maximum quantity and quality of sugar in later operations. Indoing this a number of conditions mustbe met. The nice as it comes Specification of Letters Patent.

fiom the prime source, 'wh'ethe H dlli'user, comes very irregularly, the-quant ty.

that the liming be commensurate with the ment In the present invention therefore, I receive the uice from the prime source mto body andi'n this conduit I place a yielding frictional resistance adapted to average .out violentfluctua'tions of'fiow. After produc-' ing a milkiof lime of,standardizedfcomposition, I keep this milk in continual circu lat'ion in a closed circuit, whereby settling is prevented and constant composition 'secured. Portions of this standard milk of lime flowing in this circuit are d-iverte'd through a special valve and delivered to the current of sugar .juice, the amount "so 'liv'er'ed being made strictly proportional to the average height of liquid in said conduit by a suitable float valve.

.I have shown, more or accompanying illustrations.

In this showing :Figure 1 is a view to be described, and exhibiting the general structure and arrangement of the invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view, partly inside View, of the device shown in Fig. 2; Fig-'4 1s a vertical, Ion itudmal section of a form of meter-valve above and partly in section ofsaid valve; Fig. 6 is a partly sectional detail of .th ein- 7 is a vertical section of a drainage valve ardized composition to pass continuously past the valve 2 and through the -i e tiir n Patented May 24,;191'01' npplic'a'tionfiled January 2, 1909. Serial No. 470,405. a

as much as possible and it is also necessary;

amount of juice flowing at any given 1110-;

a conduit large enough to form an averaged less diagrammaticv ally, certain embodiments of apparatus elements within the described 1ll\'I1t101 1 1Il:tlle

ound especially suited-fto my purpose; Fig. 5' is a plan view from ternal cap and seat of the said alve;l Fig.

l as.- partly in vertical section, of a combination; of apparatus elements suited to the purposes elevation 'and'partly' in section of"one part of'the structure of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is'a plan and outletlocated on the bottom of the-Ifl'oat pipe through which a pump, (not shown) may cause a stream of milk of lime ofstandbend 3 and the return pipe4, in; ;close d 110.

of lime at suflicientspeed to prevent settlingout, during transit, of the undissolved portions of said milk of lime, thus maintaining it-of homogeneous composition. :Element 5, is a, prime conduit or canal, delivering sugar spices-derived from any suitable source,into =on'e end of 'a'condui't, 6, having .vertl'calfsides and ends, and, preferably, a flat bottom, said "conduit being provided with a frictional resistanc'e, shown asa"ba tlie plate, 7, of any suitable form,which may be, as is shown, ar'snnpler plate of area less th'an the section of the conduit and loosely suspended across it, and said conduit-is further provided with a slotted outlet" pipe',- 8,fitted with an in- 'ternal, slotted sleeve,'9, as shown, or with an -external and slotted collar, said outlet pipe projectingalso downwardly through the bottom 'of Y the conduit; and the said conduit isprovided further with a depressed portion, or well, 10, of a convenient size and ifOlln to contain'the float, 1-1, the said float actuating the lime "valve,]2,' by means'of the jointed rod, 12, and the valve lever, 13,

and 'also actuatin a drainage valve,-at 30, (see Figs. 2 and 3. The slotted outletpipe, 8, communicates by means-of'a downwardly extending portion, 1 1, with the interior of a preferably circular tank, 15, having a conical bottom,-"l6,"thro'ugh the lowermost part of which its contents can be drawn off continuously by means of the 'pipe, 17, and any ordinary balanced valve connected "therewith not s'hown) which is to be actu- 'ated by the float, 18, and its connected rod and lever, 19, and 20, 'said float, 18, being so placed as to maintain a constant level of the contents of the tank, at any desired height, as at the line 21 and the said tank 'is also pr'ovidedwith a pipe, 22, throughwhich a steady current of air may be forcedby any preferred orcustomary means into thelowest part of the contents of the said tank 'th'rought'he multiple outlets, 23.

In the'showing of F igs.'2 and 3, certain elements of my invention are more clearly exhibited, such as the flange, 24, of the sleeve, 9,b y which the said sleeve is rotatably mov- "able within the slotted disehargeniember, 8,

iii'such a manner as to regulate the discharge areajinto said member byalteration of the width of the coincident portions of the two slots, and; which coincident portions offer free passage, at 25 (Fig. 2) for the contents of tlIG COI ILlUlt, 6 into the pipes 8, and14, and so into the tank, 15, the flanges of said tank beingindicated at 26, in Figs, 2 and 3. In Figs. 2 and 3 are also shown the guides, 27,

and '28, for the float-rod, l2, and the leven arms, 29, of the drainage valve, 30, (see' covering "the drainage a weight of the float, ;11, which depresses said arms, raising the valve portion, 30, and unertui'e, 31, in the bottom of the well, 10, al owing the contents ofsaidwell to'fiowinto the tank, '15-, whenever the'said fipatis in its lowest position,

said opening'remaining .covered and nonperrneable whenever thefloat is raised into its higher positions, as the heavier part, 30, of the drainage member will fall by itsown sure of the'float'upon the lever arms.

discharge member of the lime'meter-valve, 2,

placed so that the flow of milk of lime therefrom shallfall-intothe sugar liquor in the conduit, 6, at a 'point close to the line of flow into the outlet offthe'inember, 8, and immediately mingle with-the said liquor duringits passage through P p and into the tank, 15. 4 a

In the showing of element 33 is a iweight whenever not sustained by the pres- --In''-th'e showing ofFig. 2, element 32 is the v broken-away showing of' the body of the liine. valve, 341s a'plate removably fastened thereupon torcover ail-inspection port, 35, which',u'porr lifting the said cover plate, gives free access to the cap,36, pivoted upon the spindle, 37,-and-1mvm its seat upon the up-.

per, internal, fiat-'portion,'38, of the valve tube,'39, said tube; having a collar,40, forming a co'ntir'iuous part of the tubeand by which it is fastened removably to the valve body below and ex'teri'orly, said tube terminating atj-a discharge orifice,'32'. The pivoted cap,'36, hasanotched and curved guide, 41, pr0jecting'fron1 its lower face, said guide passing. smoothly through a rectangular slot, 42, into a chamber 43, hollowed in the upper part of the hereof the i 'alv'e tube, '39; and the triangular notch,-44, with the rising of the cap, exposesa rectangula'r'aperture for the passage of milk of lime from the interior of the valve into the valve tube and o'ut through its idischarge orifice, the said'rectangularfapittturefvarying in its'open secplug, closing an inwardly tapered orifice,46,

in a side boss of the valve body; the spindle, 37 passing through said orifi ce until its enlarged end 47, makes a bearm against the taper of said orifice, said spind e continuing throughthe perforated lug, 48, of the valve cap, said lug being firmly fastened to said spindle, which extends out of the other slde of the valve body through a packingsp'ace,

4 9, in a boss, 50. and through agland, 51,

" and has rigidly fixed upon'its outer extremity, at 52,'ll18 valve lever, 13.

Inthe showing of Fig. 6, 39 is a vertlcal cross sect-ion. of the valve tube, and in elevavbered as in preceding is pivoted a device for opening and closing a drainage aperture, 31, said device consisting of the valve portion, 30, and the lever portion, 54:, the latter upwardly diverging into two lever arms, 29, said device as a whole pivoted as stated on the rod, 53, and with a free swinging motion on said ivot; and the valve portion, 30, is intentiona ly made heavy in order that, when the lever arms are free from the weight of the float, 11, it will fall of its own weight and close the drainage aperture, 31. 4

In the use of my process and the combined 'deyices I have invented for its convenient employment, raw sugar juice is received from the source, 5, into the conduit,--6, at one end thereof and, passing the battle, 7,. this becomes a smooth-surfaced moving body of li'quid-therebeyond, said body of liquid accumulating in the said conduit .until it reaches an averaged level, as at 55, (see Fig. 2) where the adjustable slot, :25, in the member, 8, ofiers area suflicient for the passage of all the liquid that is received into the said conduit; and the surface of the sugar juice will remain at or near this averaged level so long as the juice continues to flow into said conduit in afull stream. The float, 11, rising as the juice enters, will pass above the point at which it can depress the lever arms, 29, of the drainage member, and this will at once close the aperture through the bottom of the float. well by the fall of the valve portion of the said device. The float, 11, in rising, will also, by means of the connected rod andyalve lever, open the lime-meter -valve and permit milk of lime to escape through the outlet into the body of sugar juice in the conduit, 6, near the opening of the slotted members, 8, and '9 andas the sald rod and lever arm will follow the movement of the float, 11, the quantity of lime delivered.

by the valve, 2, will be in proportion to the said movement, and to the rise or fall of the su 'ar juice in the conduit, 6. And to adjust th's-delivery of milk of lime accurately to the requirements of the process, the sleeve,

9, is rotated by means of its flange, altering the area of the outlet into the discharge member, 8, until the level of the sugar juice in the said conduitbrings the said float to a height at which the meter-valve delivers the correct amount of milk of lime for the bestv tempering of the said sugar. juice. with which proper temper ng this process is concerned and which is its principal object.

And it is the additional function of the com-. bination of elements described, to regulate automatically the proportion of milk of lime added to the sugar juice despite 1iati'ir-aland unavoidable irregularities of supplyo f the sugar juice to the device through theffpi imary conduit, 5, and this I eiiectjbyf' trans, 'mitting the majorvariations ofjle v of liquor in the conduit, 6, induced blythe said irregularities of supply, immediately"toi the notched guide in the meter-valvethroughitlie float and its connections, modifyingthe 'dea livery of lime in the manner to maintain-the" desired ratio of milk of lime tdthe juice, when this ratio has once beeiiproperly adjusted in the manner before stated by means of the slotted sleeve, 9. In consequence of the flow of liquid through the discharge member of the conduit and it's' p'assage through the bent downward continuation thereof into the tank, 15, the said tank will fill with correctly proportioned sugar. juice and milk of lime untilthelevel ofits contents shall reach some determined point, (as 21, in Fig. 1), whereupon the float, 18, pendent therein, will be-sufiiciently raised to open, throu h the connections-19, and- 20, a balanced va ve (not shown) ,and permit the contents of the said tank to be drawiroff through the pipe, 17, as fast as they are supplied to the said tank from the said conduit and its discharge outlet. Meanwhile a continuous current of air is supplied"-ro1n'an' appropriate source and forced into the bottom of the liquid through the pipe, '22, and the multiple outlets thereof, and the air, in its rapid passageupward throughthe. liquor, will thoroughly agitate" the said liquor, continuously and immediately blending the newly entered, limed sugar juice vwith the whole contents of the tank, in 'a nianner to preserve at all times a constant average. composition of the said contents, said contents thus being a considerable or dominant body, representative of the mean composition of the juice that may be supplied through the primary conduit, 5, over comparatively long periods of time; this constantly min" orifice, an'd'fa similarly slotted sleeve or H collar movable with regard to said discliarge' member frneans for delivering in'ilk of liine into said sugar j uice, controlled by thedepth of liquid'in said conduit between said equali zing device and said'discharge meniber, and. j

s receptacle arranged 'to maintain in active agitation and admixture a considerable and v homogeneous bodyof said sugar juice and lime, into which said receptacle the said conduit continuously delivers the said sugar described.

2. A defecating apparatus comprising a juice and lime, substantially as hereinbefore conduit, means of delivering sugar juice.

portion to the quantity of juice passinginto and from said conduit, a well, orifloat. receptacle 1n connectionwiththe bottom of said conduit, and a drainage aperture in the bottom of said well, covered by a: valve actuated by the motion of the float and serving to drain the, said well at times when said liquidceases to flow into the said conduit.

3. In a defecating apparatus as described, means for a continuous and float-controlled supplyof milk of lime to a body of sugar liquor, said means comprising. a valve. body through" which a current otsaid milk of lime may .be made to circulate, arcmovable cover plate closing a port giving access to the interior of. said body, a removable valve tube fastened to the lower part: of said body, projecting upwardly into saidbody andcontinued downwardly and externallyof the body, said tube having a chamber formed by widening the upper part of its bore, and said chamber opening at its upper part .by a horizontal, rectangular slot in j which moves vertically a triangular'ly notched guide attached to a pivoted cover member,

- said cover member firmly fixed to ,a-spindle to which rotary motion is imparted by lever and rod members connected with. afloat rising and falling with the level of. the sugar liquor contained in a conduit hereinbefore described, and by the position of the notch relatively to the slot in the valve tube forming a variable, rectangular aperture for the any time between the membersof the said.

juice conduit.

l. In a defecatin apparatus for sugar juices as described, t 1e combination of a re-- ceptacle to contain a cons1derab1e body ofmingled sugar juices and milk of lime, means for continuously adding said commingled juice and lime thereto, with .means for continuous agitation and thorough mixing of said-body with the further portions of the same materials added continuously thereto, means for. continuously withdrawing treated liquid from the receptacle, and

means fqr maintaining a; tho gughly';n1 in gled andufiniform volumei fisaid body-3m said receptacle during. the continued simuk taneous addition and withdrawal of the said materials. 1 e

5. A defecating apparatuscomprisirig a source ofsugar juices, means forconverting such juices into a flowing current of averaged de'pth, means for maintaining milk of lime of constant, composition andgmeans for adding 'suchimilk of lime directlytto said current in amounts proportional to the ternporary depth'of liquid .therein. l '6. A. defecating apparatus comprising a source of sugar juices, aaconduit receiving juices therefrom and adapted fortheflowof a current therein, anupright slotted delivery member withdrawing juices from the conduit,.lime-deliverymeans delivering .lime

to the current in the conduit in proximity to said slottedmember and afloat insaid conduit controlling said lime-delivery means.

7. A defecating apparatus comprising a source of sugar uices, a conduit receiving juice therefrom, an upright slottedidelivery member withdrawing juice from saidconduit, lime delivering means in proximity to said slotted member, a float in,said .c onduit controlling said lime'delivery means and a frictional resistance interposed between slotted .member. and thesource' of juices.

8. A ,defecating apparatus comprising a source ofsugar uices,'a conduit receiv ng juice therefrom, an uprightslotted delivery member withdrawing juice from said conduit, lime delivering means in proximity to said slotted member, a float in said conduit controllin said lime delivery meansanda swinging aflle suspended in said conduit between the-slotted member and the source of juice. I

9.. A. defecating apparatus comprlsing a source of sugarl uices, a conduit receiv ng juice therefrom, an upright slotted member in said conduit and provided with means for adjusting the .Width-of-the slottherein for withdrawing juicefrom said conduit, lime delivery means delivering lime in-proximity to said slotted member and a floatinsaid conduit controlling the delivery of lime. 4

10. A defecatingapp'aratus comprising a source of sugar juices, a COIIdHlt IGQGi VIHg juice therefrom, withdrawal meansadapted to produce an av'eragedheight of juice current in said conduit during flow from such source,limin'g" means adapted to supply an amount of lime,to the current in the conduit proportional to said height and means fflor' emptyingthe conduit on a cessation of conduit for the flow of sugar uices, means for delivering juiceto and withdrawing juice from saidconduit adapted to: preserve r 11. A defecating apparatuscomprising a mounted in said conduit, valve means controlled by said float ada ted to empty said float, adapted to deliver an amount of milk of lime into said conduit proportioned to the temporary height of liquid therein.

12. A defecatin apparatus comprising a conduit adapted or flow of sugar uices, a

float valve mounted therein and a liming device delivering lime to said conduit and controlled by said float, said liming device comprising means for maintaining milk of lime in circulation and a valve connected to said float having a triangular inlet orifice receiving such milk of lime and varying in area presented thereto with the rise and fall of the float.

' 13. In a defecating ap aratus, a liming device comprising means En circulating milk of lime in a conduit, a discharge tube leading from suchco'nduit, a flap valve mounted to en age thetop of such tube and ammthe flap valve adapted to enter into the top of the tube. I

'gular y notched downward prolongation of 14. In a defecating apparatus, a vessel adapted to contain sugar ju ces, a float mounted in said vessel and a liming device adapted to deliver milk of lime into said vessel, said liming device comprising means for clrculatmg a body of milk of llme, a valve tube adapted towithdraw milk of lime from said body a flap valve adapted to engage the-top 0% such tube and connected to said float, and'a triangularly notched downward prolongation of the flap valve adapted to enter into the top of the tube.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in the presence of witnesses.

Y FRANK E. COOMBS. Witnesses:

. O. A. Dowsn,

H. A. Lmvn'r. 

